Joseph W. Hermann is a leading American wind band conductor and educator and is currently Director of Bands and Professor of Music at

Tennessee Technological University Tennessee Technological University, commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech, is a public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of Dixie ...

Cookeville, Tennessee Cookeville is the county seat and largest city of Putnam County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was reported to be 34,842. It is recognized as one of the country's micropolitan areas, or smaller ...

. He is also the current President of the

American Bandmasters Association The American Bandmasters Association (ABA) was formed in 1929 by Edwin Franko Goldman to promote concert band music.Raoul F. Camus. "American Bandmasters Association." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/sub ...

Biography

Hermann received his undergraduate and master's degrees from

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, law, and pharmacy. Drake's law school is among the 25 oldest in the United States. Hi ...

, where he studied under Don Marcoullier. At Drake, Herman experienced frequent theoretical study by returning guest lecturer

Vincent Persichetti Vincent Ludwig Persichetti (June 6, 1915 – August 14, 1987) was an American composer, teacher, and pianist. An important musical educator and writer, he was known for his integration of various new ideas in musical composition into his own wo ...

. As a young clarinetist, he played principal clarinet in

Karl King Karl L. King (February 21, 1891 – February 19, 1971) was a United States march music bandmaster and composer. He is best known as the composer of "Barnum and Bailey's Favorite". The most expensive painting in Iowa, the "Karl L. King Portrait ...

's band in

Fort Dodge Fort Dodge is a city in, and the county seat of, Webster County, Iowa, United States, along the Des Moines River. The population was 24,871 in the 2020 census, a decrease from 25,136 in 2000. Fort Dodge is a major commercial center for North Cen ...

, Iowa. Hermann also studied and interacted with legendary conductors

Sir Georg Solti Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and London, and as a long-servin ...

and John Paynter. Hermann also studied with

Václav Nelhýbel Václav Nelhýbel (September 24, 1919 – March 22, 1996) was a Czech American composer, mainly of works for student performers. Life and career He was born the youngest of five children in Polanka, Czechoslovakia. He received his early mu ...

, with whom he remained close to until Nelhýbel's death, and John Boyd, who worked with Hermann while transcribing the music of

Karel Husa Karel Husa (August 7, 1921 – December 14, 2016) was a Czech-born classical composer and conductor, winner of the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Music and 1993 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition. In 1954, he emigrated to t ...

for wind band. In college, Hermann became a Brother of

Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America (colloquially known as Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi Mu Alpha, or simply Sinfonia) () is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music. The fraternity is open to men "w ...

. After college, Hermann taught secondary school, directing the Dowling High School Band in

West Des Moines West Des Moines is a city in Polk, Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, and supervising the Des Moines Catholic Instrumental Music Program for the Diocese of

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

. Under his leadership, the school music program grew to unprecedented enrollment. In addition, he served as the Educational Director for

Bands of America Bands of America (BOA) is a music education advocacy organization and promoter of high school marching band competitions in the United States, such as the annual Grand National Championships. Established in 1975 as Marching Bands of America (MBA), ...

and McCormick’s Enterprises, a music corporation in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. His college teaching positions include Director of Bands at

East Tennessee State University East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. Although it is part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee, the university is governed by an institutional Board of Tr ...

, Associate Director of Bands and the Director of

the Pride of Arizona The Pride of Arizona (PoA) is the marching band and pep band at the University of Arizona. The band was founded in 1902 as the UA ROTC Band and contained 12 members. The band is well-known for their performance at Super Bowl I and the Inaugural ...

Marching Band at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

, an Assistant Director of Bands and a Director of the Marching Hundred at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

, where he became an Honorary member of

Kappa Kappa Psi Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity (, colloquially referred to as KKPsi), is a fraternity for college and university band members in the United States. It was founded on November 27, 1919, on Thanksgiving Day, at Oklahoma Agricul ...

. One of Hermann's students at Indiana was a young Richard Saucedo. He has appeared in over thirty states,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and other places around the world.

Tennessee Tech

In 1989, Hermann became the director of bands at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, TN. At Tech, he directs and oversees a comprehensive program that includes the University Wind Ensemble and Symphony Band as well as directing the Tennessee

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

Boy's State The American Legion Boys State and American Legion Auxiliary Girls State are summer leadership and citizenship programs for high school juniors, which focus on exploring the mechanics of American government and politics. The programs are sponsor ...

Band for thirteen years. Since coming to Tech, Hermann increased the band's exposure, conducting the Tech bands for

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

broadcasts, director resource CDs, and taking the bands to various conferences, including the 2008 ABA convention and the 1994 CBDNA convention. Hermann and the Tech Symphony band are responsible for numerous commissioned compositions from award-winning composers including

Donald Grantham Donald Grantham (born November 9, 1947) is an American composer and music educator. Grantham was born in Duncan, Oklahoma. After receiving a Bachelor of Music from the University of Oklahoma, he went on to receive his MM and DMA from the Univers ...

Robert Jager Robert Edward Jager (born August 25, 1939) is an American composer, music theorist and a conductor. Life Jager was born in Binghamton, New York on August 25, 1939. From 1962 to 1965 he was arranger/composer for the US-Navy Armed Forces School ...

Greg Danner Greg Danner (born May 16, 1958) is a contemporary American composer, educator, and professional musician. He is currently the composer-in-residence and professor at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tennessee. He is the 2010 Composer's Gui ...

Thomas Sleeper Thomas M. Sleeper (February 16, 1956 – October 15, 2022) was an American composer and conductor. His music has been described as 'hauntingly mysterious' and 'richly lyrical'. He was the Director of Orchestral Activities and Conductor of the Un ...

, and

Rodney Waschka II Rodney Waschka II is an American composer known for his algorithmic compositions and his theatrical works. Biography Waschka studied at Brooklyn College, at the Institute of Sonology, then newly part of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and e ...

. Composers such as

Adam Gorb Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

, Robert W. Smith,

Gunther Schuller Gunther Alexander Schuller (November 22, 1925June 21, 2015) was an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, educator, publisher, and jazz musician. Biography and works Early years Schuller was born in Queens, New York City, ...

, James Barnes,

Mark Camphouse Mark Camphouse (born 1954 in Oak Park, Illinois) is an Americans, American composer and conductor who has written primarily for concert band, symphonic band, but whose output also includes works for orchestra, choir and chamber brass. A product o ...

John Zdechlik John Zdechlik (''Zuh-DECK-lik''; May 2, 1937 – May 21, 2020) was an American composer, music teacher, and conductor. Zdechlik was elected to the American Bandmasters Association and many of his compositions became standard concert band reper ...

Jared Spears Jared Tozier Spears (born August 15, 1936) is an American composer and music teacher. Biography Spears was born in Chicago, Illinois. Spears attended the Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois and earned his Bachelor of Science in ...

Eric Ewazen Eric Ewazen (; born March 1, 1954, Cleveland, Ohio) is an American composer and teacher. Biography Ewazen studied composition under Samuel Adler, Milton Babbitt, Gunther Schuller, Joseph Schwantner, Warren Benson, and Eugene Kurtz at the Ea ...

James Curnow James Curnow (born 17 April 1943) is a composer of music for concert bands, brass bands, vocal and instrumental solos and ensembles. Curnow has also written arrangements of music pieces such as Trumpet Voluntary. He has taught at both public s ...

, Elliot Del Borgo and Leroy Osmon have also visited and had residencies with the Tech band. Hermann's tenure at Tech has cemented him as a music educator of note, with many of his former students teaching and conducting in every facet of the wind band community. Hermann is also frequently published in journals and research documents concerning the entire scope of wind studies. Hermann and the TTU bands record frequently and are recording a CD of new music published by C. Alan Publications, which includes music by Greg Danner and Elliot Del Borgo. Hermann also oversees Tennessee Tech's annual Festival of Winds and Percussion that has featured guest conductors including Thomas Lee, Kenneth Bloomquist, Thomas Fraschillo, James Keene, James Croft, Frank Wickes, Stanley Michalski, Alan Bonner, John Bourgeois, and

Harry Begian Dr. Harry Begian (1921-2010) was an American band director, composer and arranger. Begian taught at both the secondary and collegiate level during his career. Early life Begian was born in Michigan to Armenian immigrants on April 24, 1921. The i ...

. Hermann and the Symphony Band have also appeared with guest soloists including

Joseph Alessi Joseph Norman Alessi (born September 20, 1959) is an American classical trombonist with the New York Philharmonic. Life Joseph Norman Alessi was born in Detroit, Michigan and attended high school in San Rafael, California. His father, also nam ...

, Joseph Skillen, Tim Northcut,

Phillip Barham Phillip Wayne Barham (born December 4, 1957) is a classical and jazz saxophonist was the professor of saxophone at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee until October 2018. Biography Barham was born in Dowagiac, Michigan. He r ...

, Kelly Thomas, Bryce Edwards, and the

Boston Brass Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most p ...

American bandmaster

In 1996, in recognition of outstanding service and achievements to music, Herman was elected into the American Bandmasters Association. As an ABA member, Hermann has served on various committees, overseen commissioning projects, and served on the Board of Directors. In 2007, Hermann was named Vice-President of the ABA, and in 2008 became the President-Elect. He assumed the Presidency during the ABA convention March 4–8 in

College Station, Texas College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East-Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley, towards the eastern edge of the region known as the Texas Triangle. It is northwest of Houston and east-northeast of Austin. ...

, succeeding Robert Jorgenson.

Honors and awards

In addition to the ABA, Hermann is a member of

CBDNA William D. Revelli (February 12, 1902 – July 16, 1994) was an American music educator and conductor best known for his association with the University of Michigan, where he directed the university's bands including the Michigan Marching Ban ...

, MENC, NBA, the Tennessee Bandmasters Association, has served as the editor for the New Music Reviews for the Tennessee Musician, and is a past board member of the Tennessee Music Educators Association. He is a member of

Phi Beta Mu Phi Beta Mu, International Bandmasters' Fraternity (), is an honorary fraternity for band directors. The fraternity was designed to honor outstanding band directors at the state level, with only one potential chapter per state. There are currentl ...

, a past President of the

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

Band Directors Association, a past Province Governor for

, and holds honorary memberships in

and

Tau Beta Sigma Tau Beta Sigma Honorary Band Sorority, (, colloquially referred to as TBSigma or TBS) is a co-educational service sorority. The sorority, headquartered at the historic Stillwater Santa Fe Depot in Stillwater, Oklahoma, numbers over 3,800 active ...

. In 2008, Herman received the Kappa Kappa Psi

Distinguished Service to Music Medal The Distinguished Service to Music Medal is an award presented by Kappa Kappa Psi, National Honorary Band Fraternity. It is awarded to people who have contributed to the advancement of the wind band "as a cultural, musical and educational medium. ...

honoring leaders in wind studies. In 2009, Jeremy S. Martin, composer/arranger for the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

and TTU alumnus, composed a Suite for Band in honor of Mr. Hermann's twenty years as director of the Tech band program.

Personal life

Hermann is married and has two children. He resides in Cookeville. He is good friends with renown Tech tuba professor

R. Winston Morris Ralph Winston Morris (born January 19, 1941 in Barnwell, South Carolina) is an American tubist. He served as professor of tuba and euphonium at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville, Tennessee, for 55 years, and subsequent to his retirement af ...

as well as conductors David Waybright of the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, William J. Moody of the University of South Carolina, and W.J. Julian, former Director of Bands at Tennessee Tech and the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

Discography

"America's Millennium Tribute to Adolphe Sax Volume XII". Tucson: Arizona University Recordings (AUR 3129), 2007. *Summer Concerto by

Performed with the Tennessee Tech Wind Ensemble,

, soloist. "Slide Ride: Works for Solo Trombone and Band" Mark Masters (6055 MCD), 2005 *Performed with the Tennessee Tech Symphony Band, Joshua Hauser, soloist. "Tennessee Tech Pride" Mark Masters (4371 MCD), 2003 *Performed with the Tennessee Tech Symphony Band, Tim Northcut, soloist. "Discovery: Emerging and Celebrated Repertoire for Solo Saxophone and Band Volume I". Mark Masters (3918 MCD), 2002. *Performed with the Tennessee Tech Symphony Band, James Spinazolla, soloist. "Band Music of Distinction Volume V". Daehn Publications (DP1527) *Walls of Zion by

Performed with the Tennessee Tech Symphony Band "Jupiter". Independent through Tennessee Tech. 1995 *Performed with the Tennessee Tech Symphony Band. Frank Wickes, guest conductor. "The Waters of Myth". Independent through Tennessee Tech. 1994 Recorded at the 1994 CBDNA convention at the Ohio State University. *Performed with the Tennessee Tech Symphony Band,

Ray Cramer Ray E. Cramer (born 28 June 1940) is an American band conductor. Education Cramer has degrees from Western Illinois University and the University of Iowa. In December 1991, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from his alma mater o ...

, guest conductor,

Steven Mead Steven Mead (born 1962 in Bournemouth, England) is an English virtuoso euphonium soloist and teacher who has played an important role in achieving worldwide recognition of the instrument. He has played solo concerti with many symphony orchestras, ...

, guest soloist

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hermann, Joseph Drake University alumni University of Arizona faculty Indiana University faculty Living people American conductors (music) American male conductors (music) University and college band directors People from Fort Dodge, Iowa Distinguished Service to Music Medal recipients Year of birth missing (living people)